The US government just handed out two billion dollars to nine quantum computing companies — and the English packed into this story is just as valuable. In this episode, we break down the biggest tech investment of the week and pick up five B2+ expressions about risk, strategy, and power that you'll use far beyond the world of finance.
⚡ 5 Key Expressions
Expression 01
Take a leap of faith
To commit to something uncertain — to jump in before you have any guarantee it will work out. A "leap" is a big jump, and "faith" means belief without proof. When you take a leap of faith, you are making a bold move based on hope and judgment rather than certainty. The US government's decision to pour billions into quantum technology that experts say is still decades from full usefulness is a textbook example. The phrase works equally well for personal decisions — a career change, a relationship, a move abroad. The bigger the unknown, the more naturally the phrase fits.
- "She quit her stable job and took a leap of faith on her own startup — and it paid off within two years."
- "Moving to a new country without speaking the language is a real leap of faith, but I don't regret it."
Expression 02
In its infancy
At the very earliest stage of development — new, undeveloped, and full of potential but not yet mature. "Infancy" literally refers to the period when a baby is in its first year or two of life. Applied to industries, technologies, or ideas, it means the thing exists and shows promise, but it hasn't grown up yet. The article uses this framing for quantum computing: the science is real, the investment is real, but practical, useful quantum computers are still a long way off. Note that the possessive changes with the subject — in its infancy, in their infancy, in my infancy (as a writer, a learner, a leader).
- "The regulatory framework for AI is still in its infancy, which makes compliance genuinely difficult to plan for."
- "My Korean is still in its infancy — I can order coffee, but that's about where it ends."
Expression 03
Hedge your bets
To spread your risk across multiple options so that if one fails, you haven't lost everything. The phrase comes from gambling — a "hedge" was a side bet placed to protect your main bet. In everyday English, it means not going all in on a single outcome. The government's choice to fund nine different quantum companies rather than one is the clearest possible example: not every horse will win, so back several. Importantly, the phrase can carry a slight critical edge — calling someone out for "hedging their bets" sometimes implies they lack the courage to fully commit. Context determines the tone.
- "We're entering three regional markets at once — partly to hedge our bets in case one underperforms."
- "I applied to eight universities. I know it's a lot, but I'm hedging my bets."
Expression 04
Pan out
To succeed or develop the way you hoped — to turn out well. The phrase comes from gold mining: prospectors used a shallow pan to sift through river sediment looking for gold. If the pan revealed gold, the effort panned out. Today, you use it for any plan, investment, relationship, or experiment. Crucially, it almost always appears in conditional or negative structures: "I hope this pans out," "not every deal pans out," "things didn't pan out the way we planned." You rarely hear someone say "it panned out great" after the fact — the phrase lives most naturally in uncertainty and anticipation.
- "The partnership looked promising at first, but it just didn't pan out — we parted ways after six months."
- "I'm trying a new study method this semester. Let's see if it pans out."
Expression 05
Call the shots
To be the one in charge — the person who makes the decisions and sets the direction. If you call the shots, everyone else follows your lead. The phrase most likely comes from shooting sports, where calling a shot means announcing your next move before you take it — a sign of control and confidence. In modern English, it describes power in any context: a CEO calls the shots in a company, a dominant country calls the shots in a geopolitical race, and in a friend group, there's always one person who quietly calls the shots about where everyone eats. The power doesn't have to be official — it just has to be real.
- "She doesn't have a C-suite title, but everyone knows she calls the shots on product decisions."
- "Now that I'm freelance, I finally get to call the shots — my schedule, my clients, my terms."
🎭 The Dialogue: Betting on the Future
Maya and Alex both work in tech investment. They're grabbing coffee on a Thursday morning when the government's quantum computing announcement lands in their news feed.
📍 Office kitchen, Thursday morning. Maya is reading her phone. Alex walks in and pours two cups.
Maya: Did you see the government just dropped two billion dollars into quantum computing?
Alex: I did. It's a bold move. They're really taking a leap of faith on technology that isn't ready yet.
Maya: Exactly — the whole industry is still in its infancy. Half these companies haven't built anything useful.
Alex: That's probably why they spread the money across nine companies. Classic way to hedge your bets.
Maya: Smart. Not every one of those investments is going to pan out.
Alex: Right. But if even two or three of them deliver, the US ends up calling the shots in the next big tech race.
Maya: Just like they did with AI. Though some experts say we're still decades away from anything truly useful.
Alex: Maybe. But in tech, if you wait until it's ready, someone else has already won.
🧠 Episode Quiz
Can you answer this?
Quantum computing relies on "qubits" rather than regular "bits." A regular computer bit can only hold one of two possible values. What are those two values?
✅ Answer: C — Zero or one. A standard computer bit is always either 0 or 1. What makes a qubit revolutionary is that it can be 0, 1, or both simultaneously — a quantum property called superposition. This allows quantum computers to process vastly more information at once than any classical machine.
📚 Bonus Vocabulary
Equity stake (noun phrase) — partial ownership in a company, typically acquired through investment. When the government funded these quantum firms, it took equity stakes — meaning it now owns a small percentage of each company. "The venture capital firm took a 15% equity stake in the startup in exchange for early funding."
Nascent (adjective) — just beginning to exist or develop; in an early stage. A more formal synonym for "in its infancy." Google's CEO used this word to describe quantum computing's current state. "The nascent electric vehicle market in Southeast Asia is attracting significant foreign investment."
Superposition (noun) — the quantum property that allows a qubit to exist in multiple states at the same time, unlike a classical bit which must be either 0 or 1. It's the key concept behind why quantum computers are theoretically so powerful. "Superposition is difficult to explain without a physics degree, but the short version is: a qubit can be both things at once."
